Aloha Trail Mix | Ultralight Backpacking Recipe (2024)

By Rick Harrison & Aaron Owens Mayhew, MS, RDN, CD

Updated January 6, 2024

This post may contain affiliate links.

This calorie-bomb, backpacking trail mix recipe will leave you wanting more! Although, at 822 calories in just one serving, you may want to stick with only the one. Both calorie- and nutrient-dense, this combination of nuts, dried fruit, and white chocolate is sure to give you everything you want and need!

As backpackers and hikers, we look for the lightest, most nutrient-dense snacks and meals we can bring on the trail. So we’ve created this tropical, homemade trail mix that will leave you completely satisfied! This snack gives you a bright burst of flavors from the dried fruit mix, keeps you full due to the protein and fiber found in the macadamia nuts, and satisfies your sweet tooth with the addition of white chocolate chips.

A Calorie-Dense but Nutrient-Dense Snack

As mentioned, backpackers and hikers need lightweight foods that pack a big punch. They need the best foods to supply the energy needed to travel anywhere from 5 to 50 miles a day. This backpacking trail mix, which does just that, contains only four simple ingredients: macadamia nuts, dried coconut, dried pineapple, and white chocolate chips.

Macadamia Nuts:

Macadamia nuts supply the most calories in this trail mix recipe (almost 500 calories in a half cup). However, they provide many other helpful nutrients, such as protein, fiber, and healthy monounsaturated fats.1 There are two different kinds of fat: saturated and unsaturated. Saturated fats are the “bad” fats that can lead to health problems such as high cholesterol and heart disease. On the other hand, unsaturated fats are “good” fats that we want to include in our diets. The fat found in macadamia nuts, monounsaturated, is a healthy fat. Thus, macadamia nuts come with specific health benefits, such as helping lower your risk for chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.^1,2

Dried Fruit Mix:

The dried coconut and dried pineapple give this homemade trail mix its bright flavors that will leave you craving more! Since the water has been removed, dried fruit will provide more nutrients, including calories, than their hydrated (fresh) counterparts. However, despite higher calories, dried fruit contains many other important nutrients, such as fiber, antioxidants, and certain vitamins and minerals.³

White Chocolate:

Adding white chocolate to our homemade trail mix gives the mix a simple richness and a touch of sweetness. Considering that white chocolate will contain mostly simple carbohydrates (i.e., sugar), it will give your body a quick energy boost. You may question why white chocolate is added to the recipe when it doesn’t supply much more than calories. The answer: the joy of eating! You’re working hard on the trail and deserve to treat yourself with this simple addition.

Is This a Healthy Backpacking Trail Mix?

You may wonder about this recipe’s high fat and added sugar content. While those nutrients are present in this recipe, this is a homemade trail mix, meaning it is customizable. By choosing specific trail mix ingredients and their amounts, such as a half cup of macadamia nuts (high in healthy monounsaturated fats) and only a quarter cup of dried coconut (higher in saturated fat), we can create a better-for-you, nutrient-dense snack for the backcountry.

So where does that leave the added sugar from the white chocolate chips? When backpacking, our calorie needs are tremendously higher than our everyday needs. Consuming a relatively small amount of added sugars as a “treat” in your backpacking trail mix won’t negatively affect you. However, if you’d like to dive deeper into added sugars, check out our other blog post, Is Added Sugar Bad for Backpackers? As mentioned, many other beneficial nutrients are in the trail mix!

Don’t have time to prepare your own trail mix?

Meal plan in minutes using our one-of-a-kind Buil-a-Box shop! Here are a few of our favorite trail mix options in our shop.

READY TO SEE MORE BACKPACKING TRAIL MIX RECIPES LIKE THIS ONE?

Backcountry Foodieis your go-to resource for over 200 backpacking dietitian-created recipes and a one-of-a-kind automated meal planning tool. The meal planner even creates itemized shopping lists for you! Meal prep has never been easier.

DISCLOSURE: Some of the links on this page are affiliate links, which means we may receive a modest commission if purchases are made through those links. This adds no cost to our readers and helps us keep our site running. Our reputation is our most important asset, so we only include links for products we use ourselves.

Did you enjoy this backpacking trail mix recipe?

Pin it and share it with your fellow hikers.

New to our blog?

Consider checking out these posts:

• How to Choose Snacks for Your Hiking Adventures
• What to Eat and Drink While Hiking in Hot Weather
• The Best Backpacking Foods for Energy

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

References:

1. What Are Macadamia Nuts Good For? Medical News Today. Published February 13, 2022. Accessed January 12, 2023. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324233
2. Baby DP. Health Benefits of Macadamia Nuts. Nourish. Published 2022. Accessed January 12, 2023. https://www.webmd.com/diet/health-benefits-macadamia-nuts
3. Alasalvar C, Salvadó JS, Ros E. Bioactives and health benefits of nuts and dried fruits. Food Chem. 2020;314:126192. doi:10.1016/J.FOODCHEM.2020.126192